STEWART HALL BUILDING
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
5-13 S. Spring Street was built in 1888 as a theater and music hall. It was a popular place for dances, public meetings and revivals. The first floor was first occupied by a penny newspaper that became the Press, and closed in 1910.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Stewart Hall Building is distinguished as a Queen Anne style Two-Part Commercial block building. The Queen Anne style is characterized by asymmetry and irregularity in form, with a variety of surface materials and textures. In commercial buildings, the style is usually displayed with stylistic ornament, corner towers, and projecting bay windows on the upper floors. There have been some insensitive alterations to the building including removal of the pediment above the Stewart Hall inscription as well as the pyramidal, hipped roof above the secondary entry; removal of the floor to ceiling double-hung windows at the second floor; removal of the prism glass at the first floor transoms and awnings that covered the storefronts.
Sources: 2015 Downtown Commercial Historic District National Register Nomination; Audio: TextAloud